There's A Dark Side To The Prime Minister Who Just Won India's Election By A Huge Landslide

Gujarat's chief minister Narendra Modi speaks during
the "Vibrant Gujarat Summit" at Gandhinagar in the western Indian
state of Gujarat January 12, 2013. Fresh off his re-election as
chief minister of Gujarat and amid expectations he could contend
to be the next prime minister, Modi avoided talk of a bigger
political future during a state investment event.REUTERS/Amit Dave

Indian stocks surged to a record in India, with the BSE having
risen as much as 6.15%, and the rupee also strengthened against
the U.S. dollar. Modi has largely positioned himself as a
champion of economic progress as India's economic growth has
languished to 10-year lows. And one can't argue with the fact
that Modi is a much more charismatic leader than Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh.

While there's much optimism around what a Modi win could mean for
the Indian economy, there's a lot to worry about as well.

Modi is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a Hindu
nationalist party and has done a good job avoiding questions
about his role in the deadly Gujarat Hindu-Muslim riots of 2002
that left over 1,000 dead. Modi was chief minister of the state
at the time. The riots began after a train with Hindu
pilgrims was set on fire in Godhra, killing 59 people. Hindu mobs
then turned on Muslims in Gujarat.

In the aftermath,
Modi has addressed the issue saying: "I feel sad about what
happened but no guilt. And no court has come even close to
establishing it."

Modi only fanned the flames with his
New York Times interview in 2002, in which he said his only
regret was that he didn't manage the media better. Following
this, the U.S. imposed a visa ban on Modi and Britain announced a
10-year boycott.

Modi has also called for a crackdown on illegal immigrants in
India. He has accused West Bengal of being soft on illegal
immigration and accused it of sheltering them in order to secure
votes from minorities.
Sujoy Dihar at LiveMint points out that Modi has said illegal
immigrants should have their "bags packed" in case he comes to
power. Modi's rhetoric, and it has been argued that of the BJP,
has shown an anti-Muslim bias.

In a note published earlier this year, Nomura's Alastair Newton
points out that during a Feb. 23 rally in Assam, Modi called for
Hindu migrants from Bangladesh to be assimilated back into India.
He said non-Hindus should be sent back to their home
nations. Modi's rhetoric has raised concerns about what this
could mean for neighborhood politics.

Indian publication LiveMint pointed to Modi's decision
to contest the seat in the holy city of Varanasi as a sign that
he hasn't abandoned his Hindu supremacist ideology:

"It is widely expected that Modi’s nomination from Varanasi will
positively affect the outcome for the BJP in a number of other
seats in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which are electorally
important as together the two states send 120 lawmakers to the
Lok Sabha. Further, the choice of Varanasi is also symbolic in
nature which indicates that the party may not have completely
abandoned the Hindutva ideology."

REUTERS/Ahmad
Masood

The company Modi keeps

It isn't just Modi we need to watch, it's also the company he
keeps. Amit Shah, the general secretary of BJP and former
minister of home affairs in Gujarat, is Modi's closest
confidante. In a profile for Caravan
Magazine, Poornima Joshi, identifies Shah's sketchy past.
From Joshi:

"The Supreme Court has set up a special monitoring committee to
probe twenty-two fake encounter deaths in Gujarat from 2002 to
2006; in four of these years, Shah was Gujarat’s home minister,
and in charge of the state police. This includes the three cases
in which Shah himself has been arrested and formally accused: the
killings of the gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife, and the
subsequent murder of a witness.

In 2004, Gujarat state police killed Ishrat Jehan and three of
her acquaintances. Shah hasn't been charged, though one of the
victim's father's through a Gujarat high court has tried to get
the court to arraign Shah. Two police officers accused in the
case say the attack had the approval of Modi and Shah. In 2010,
Shah, facing murder charges, was forced to resign.

On May 15, a
CBI court gave Shah a clean chit in the Ishrat Jahan
case. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge Geeta Gopi
said the plea couldn't be granted at this stage.* Shah has also
been accused in the
alleged fake encounter case of Tulsiram Prajapati, a witness
to the abduction and killing of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and
his wife by Gujarat's Anti-Terrorism Squad. Shah and the others
accused have been issued a summons by the CBI court that seeks
their presence on May 23.

In her profile, Joshi writes "behind the public projection of
Modi’s claims to be the source of unprecedented development in
the state, it is believed that the two men dominated through
intimidation and force." For his part, Shah argues that he hasn't
been charged with anything and that it's all part of a wider
"political conspiracy" against him.

As Modi takes the helm of the world's largest democracy, it's
important for Indians and the international community to watch
Modi and Shah's relationship unfolds.

Meanwhile Giriraj Singh, a BJP leader in the Indian state of
Bihar, caused a storm by saying those who oppose Modi should
find themselves a home in Pakistan, not India. A comment that
the BJP distanced itself from, though Modi didn't outright
condemn.

The economic dream

Modi has come to power on the back of Gujarat's economic success
during his time as chief minister of the state. But many have
pointed out Gujarat's economy was doing well long before he came
to power.

The strong sweep by Modi and his allies suggests there's a chance
that economic reforms won't be stymied every step of the way, as
they were during the Congress's fractious
rule.

But Modi's seeming religious intolerance, his ambiguous stance on
women's issues, and the
implications of his rule on Indian press freedom (especially
as Hindu nationalists take to the internet to intimidate Modi
critics) are cause for concern. Those celebrating Modi's win
should be cognizant of what his rule could mean for a democratic
nation.

Note* The article was amended to show that Shah got a clean chit
in the Jahan case and the summons in the Prajapati case.